Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. Widespread police brutality exists in many countries, even those that prosecute it. It is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include: false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse and police corruption.

A 24-year-old man said he's filing a complaint against members of the Peterborough County OPP detachment after officers allegedly roughed him up New Year's Day.

Josh Kukemueller, a carpenter with the Carpenter's Local 397, told The Examiner he was detained, handcuffed, kneed and shoved by three OPP officers after he was pulled over on Hwy. 28 at about 2:45 a.m. Sunday.

Peterborough County OPP Const. Iain McEwan said the OPP aren't commenting on the incident, stating that no charges were laid and police consider the issue to be resolved.

Kukemueller, a Catchacoma resident, said he had driven to a house party on Stoney Lake Rd. to pick up a friend.

Because he was the designated driver he wasn't drinking, he said, and he sat in the driveway idling for a few minutes.

Kukemueller said an OPP cruiser drove past the house three times before he pulled out of the driveway.

He turned off Stoney Lake Rd. and onto Hwy. 28 when the OPP cruiser caught up to him.

He said the officer knew his name and asked him if he was drinking before taking his licence and registration.

Ten minutes later the officer came back, he said, again asking him if he was drinking.

The officer then began examining the car, he said, asking if the exhaust system was legal, if a package of DK cigarettes, purchased at Curve Lake, were illegal and whether there was any marijuana in the vehicle.

By then, Kukemueller said, two other officers had arrived in another cruiser.

At that point the officer asked him to provide a breath sample, and Kukemueller said he agreed to follow him back to his cruiser.

Kukemueller passed the breath test.

But as he was taking the test the officers began to mock him, he said, one even challenging him to a fight.

"He went and pulled his badge right off," he said.

The trio continued to badger him, he said, and eventually he raised his voice and cursed at the officers.

Kukemueller said he was grabbed, kneed in the back and pushed face first on the hood of a cruiser.

He said he heard one officer say they could now charge him with disturbing the peace.

"There was no one around," he said, shaking his head. "Who was I disturbing?"

He said two officers on either side of him kneed him five or six times before putting him in the back of a cruiser.

Once his "arrest" was made the two late-arriving officers left, he said, leaving him in the cruiser with the first officer.

Kukemueller said the officer told him that he knew his family, and he was going to let him off the hook for the disturbance.

By that time, he said, his knee was hurting and he limped back to the vehicle.

Kukemueller headed to the hospital to have his injury checked out.

He said the doctor told him he had torn ligaments and internal bruising.

That trip was followed by a visit to the OPP detachment, where he tried to get a charge laid against the officers.

But the officer he spoke with said that wasn't possible, he said.

"He said he would not take a statement from me," Kukemueller said.

Kukemueller was directed to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), an agency that accepts, processes and oversees complaints against police officers.

Kukemueller said he's already started the complaints process.

"I'm not letting this go," he said. "I just can't believe this."

He hasn't heard back from the OIPRD and said he's waiting to see what happens before pursuing the matter further.

McEwan said that anyone who came to the detachment to make a complaint against an officer would be referred to the OIPRD.

The officers' names that assaulted Josh Kukemueller are Troy Beavis, Jason Katz and Mike Davidson. Jason Katz has been charged for assault before ( go to http://www.northernlife.ca/News/Policea ... ngsley.pdf ). Previous to this assault the Peterborough OPP were harassing Josh for about two years to the extent of pulling him over two to three times a week for document checks, sobriety tests, etc.

Last edited by Gkuke on Sat Apr 19, 2014 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think that someone should post, on this site, the proper procedure for a civilian to have a cop charged for a criminal offence. The cops rely on the fact that people are told to report to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD). This organization is no better than asking a cop to prosecute a cop.